Improvement in revolving fire-arms



w. M'Asou. Rovulving Fire-Arms.

NO 158Q57. Patented Jan. I9, 187.5.,v

U EITED STATES WILLIAM MASON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TOOOL'IS PATENT G'FFICE.

PATENT FIRE-ARMS MANUFAOTURINGOOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT'INREVOLVING FIRE-ARMS..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,957, dated January19, 1875,- application filed Dezember B, 1874.

l CASE B.

To all whom 'it may concern: f Be it known that I, WM. MASON, ofHartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new Revolver; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which'said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in-

Figure 1, sectional side view; Figs. 2 and 3, verticalv sections throughthe frame on line .fr x, showing the gate closed and open; Fig. 4,longitudinal central section through the cylinder; Fig. 5, transversesection through the cylinder; Fig. 6, transverse section on line'z z,looking` to the rear, enlarged; Fig. 7, top or plan view of the rear ofthe frame; and in Fig. 8, rear view of the same. ,l

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of fire-arms inwhich is employed a manychambered revolving cylinder, to presentsuccessively each chamber to the rear open end of a single barrel, Aandcommonly called revolvers, the object of the improvements being tofacilitate the manufacture of the arm, 'as well as the manipulation ofsome of its parts; and the invention lconsists, first, in constructingthe gate-trunnien flat upon two sides at nearly right angles to eachother, and combining therewith a spring to bear upon the said trunnion,to forge and hold the gate in either the open or closed position,according as either of the said two sides is presented to the influenceof said spring; second, in securing the ejector-tube by means of a bosson the barrel, and screw transversely through the tube into said bossand a recess in the frame, into which the rear eudof the tube eX- tends;third, in constructing the rear end of the frame in semi-spherical form,the gate forming a part of the said semi-spherical rear endall as morefully hereinafter described.

A is the frame, in which is arranged the cylinder B and hammer O, withtheir operative mechanism, in substantially the usual manner. In orderto introduce the cartridges der, or returned to close the same, as inFig.

2. On two sides, at nearly right angles to each other, a portion ofthetrunnion is out away, as seen in Fig. 2, forming two recesses, b d, inthe trnnnion. vvIn the frame beneath the trunnion a springfollower,-F,is arranged,

the tendency of the spring being to press the follower Aagainst thetrunnion, and in such relative position to the trunnion that when thegate is closed the angle between the two 'tlat surfaces on the trunnionwill be outside the vertical axial plane of the trunnion, as seen inFig. 2. Thns,-bearing upon the angle of the trunnion, thespring-follower F tends to close the gate as the said angle passes theaxial plane, and to hold the gate in its `closed position.

In opening the gate, the trunnion turns and depresses the follower,until the said angle of the trunnion passes to the opposite or insideot' said axial plane; then the follower forces the gate.open,as seen inFig. 3, and

holds it in that position. Therefore, while the follower F will yieldfor the opening and closing of the gate, it will force it to and holdit-in eitherextreme position.

The length of the recesses cut in the trunnion 'in forming the said iiatsurfaces is the same as the diameter or width of the follower F, orconstructed so that the inner `shoulder ot' the recesses will come closein rear of the follower; therefore, when the gate is in its place thefollower F will set into the said re'- cesses, and thus-hold the gate iuitsbearing without other security. i

As there is, practically, very little strain upon the center-pin H,it-lnay beof as small diameter in large as small arms, and .such smalldiameter is desirable in order to keep the cylinder ot' small diameter,and yet permit the projecting end ot' the center-pin to clear thebarrel, so that the pin may be withdrawn toward the muzzle; but in themanufacture ot' cylinders for the larger class of pistols an openingthrough the cylinder no larger than that required for the pin is toosmall for practical purposes, as a mandrel or arbor of that diameterwould be too weak for practical use. To overcome this difficulty in themanufacture and still preserve the desirable small center-pin, thecylinder is centerhored ot' sutticient diameter for the requirements ot'manufacture; and into this centerbore a sleeve, L, is fitted, as seen inFigs. 4 and 5, the internal diameter of the sleeve corresponding to thediameter of the center-pim,

the sleeve loose both on the pin and in the cylinder, and the pin loosein the frame, so that the cylinder will turn freely on the sleeve, andthe sleeve as freely on the pin or the pin in the frame.

This construction has an additional advantage over a constructionwithout the sleevethat is, as there are three bearings, upon either ot'which the cylinder may revolve, there is less liability of the cylindersticking than in case of a single bea-rind.

M is the ejector-tube, arrau ged longitudinally on the barrel, in linewith the gate E. Within this tube is the ejector-rod P, which is movedthrough the cylinder, to eject the shell or cartridge, by means of afinger-piece, R, and returned to the tube by a spiral spring. (Shown inFi l.) To attach this tube and not weaken the barrel, a boss, S, isformed upon the barrel and a corresponding cavity in the ejectortube, asseen in Fig. 6. The rearend of the tube is set into a recess in theframe, as at e, and the cavity 'at the other end of the tube set overthe boss S. Then a screw, T, trailsversely through the tube into saidboss secures the tube to the arm, and the barrel is not weakened bytapping for the screw, and any strain or blow upon the tube will comenot upon the screw, but upon the boss directly, which 4is capable ofresisting a much greater strain than the screw.

The force of the recoil in the larger class of revolvers is very'great,and that part of the frame in rear of the cylinder must beproportionately stron 0. This rear part is necessarily broken by thegate, and iu the usual const-ruction this has presented an abrupt changein the surface, making it liable to catch in drawing from the belt orholster. In order to give this required strength and avoid such abruptchanges in the surface of the frame, and at the same time preserve thelight appearance of the arm, that portion, W, ot' the frame in rear ofthe cylinder and above the stock Y is made of spherical form, of thesame diameter as the cylinder, as seen in Figs. 1, 7, 8, the gate Eforming a part ofthe spherical surface, a portion of the rear of thegate cut away to leave a recess, D'. As a convenience in opening thegate, the hammer is hung so as to work in a vertical recess in thisspherical end. This construction, while affording very great strength tothat part of the arm, takes' away their heavfappearance of the usualconstruction, and avoids the diiculties attending the employment of thegate before mentioned.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thegate E of a revolver, having its trun- `nion a constructed with tiatrecesses b d, and

combined with the spring-follower F, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a revolving fire-arm, the boss S on the barrel, and the recess ein the frame, combined with the ejector-tube, constructed to enter saidrecess e, and set over the bss S, as a means for securing said tube tothe arm, substantially as specilied.

3. In a revolver provided with a gate, the rear or recoil portion of theframe, constructed ot' spherical form, the gate E forming a part ot'said spherical portion, substantie-ily as described.

WILLIAM MASON.

Witnesses:

C. B. RICHARDS, ROBT. C. THOMSON.

